Feasibility Trial of Traumatic Brain Injured Patients Randomized in the Prehospital Setting to Either Hypertonic Saline and Dextran Versus Normal Saline

Summary

This clinical trial will evaluate the ease of conducting a randomized trial on patients with severe head injury who are cared for by paramedics in the out of hospital setting. The trial will compare two different kinds of fluids that are commonly used to elevate blood pressure and minimize the impact of the brain injury. The two solutions are a salt solution of different concentrations. One is a normal saline solution similar to the consistency of human blood and the other is a higher concentration mixed with a sugar that helps to keep the solution in the blood stream longer. This study is conducted without patient consent at the time of the study enrolment. The study will report on whether this trial is feasible in the out of hospital setting before launching into a larger definitive trial.

Timeline

Start

2004-09

Primary completion

2006-01

Completion

2008-12

Publications

• Results Morrison LJ, Rizoli S, Schwartz B, Rhind S, Black S, Stuss DT, Baker A, Univ of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada; on behalf of the TOPHR HIT Investigators. The Toronto Prehospital Resuscitation Head Injury and Multi-Organ Dysfunction Trial (TOPHR HIT). Circulation October 31, 2006; 114(18): #104.
• Results Morrison LJ, Rizoli S, Schwartz B, Rhind S, Black S, Stuss DT, Baker A, Stuss DT, Baker A, Simitciu M, Perreira T, MacDonald RD. University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Canada; on behalf of the TOPHR HIT Investigators. The Toronto Prehospital Hypertonic Resuscitation Head Injury and Multi-Organ Dysfunction Trial (TOPHR HIT). Prehosp Emerg Care 2007; 11(1): 94.
• Rhind SG, Crnko NT, Baker AJ, Morrison LJ, Shek PN, Scarpelini S, Rizoli SB. Prehospital resuscitation with hypertonic saline-dextran modulates inflammatory, coagulation and endothelial activation marker profiles in severe traumatic brain injured patients. J Neuroinflammation. 2010 Jan 18;7:5. doi: 10.1186/1742-2094-7-5.
• Morrison LJ, Rizoli SB, Schwartz B, Rhind SG, Simitciu M, Perreira T, Macdonald R, Trompeo A, Stuss DT, Black SE, Kiss A, Baker AJ. The Toronto prehospital hypertonic resuscitation-head injury and multi organ dysfunction trial (TOPHR HIT)--methods and data collection tools. Trials. 2009 Nov 20;10:105. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-10-105.

Drugs

Indications